4

GRADE 7

FRAMEWORK / CONTENT STANDARDS ADDRESSED:
Massachusetts Curriculum Framework
for ELA and Literacy (2017)

GRADE 7

FRAMEWORK / CONTENT STANDARDS ADDRESSED:

Massachusetts Curriculum Framework

for ELA and Literacy (2017)

“What should good student writing at this grade level look like?”

The answer lies in the writing itself.

The Writing Standards in Action Project uses high quality student writing samples to illustrate what performance to grade level standards looks like—in action.

Writing Standards in Action

Grade 7

English Language Arts

Narrate

(First Person Narrative)


The Great Escape – From The Amazing Adventures of Bunny Foo Foo


Background Information

Writing Sample Title:

The Great Escape – From The Amazing Adventures
of Bunny Foo Foo

Text Type and Purpose: Narrate

Grade level/Content area: Grade 7 English Language Arts

Type of Assignment: First Person Narrative

Standards Addressed: (W.7.3), (W.7.4),
(L.7.1), (L.7.2), (L.7.3), (L.7.5)

See descriptions of these standards in the right column of the next page.

Highlights:

This sample of student work meets grade level standards.
It demonstrates the following attributes of effective writing.

The sample:

·  Reveals a consistent point of view

·  Incorporates vivid verbs

·  Displays an appropriately playful tone

·  Has a clever title

·  Uses dialogue to further the narrative

·  Develops a clear sense of the narrator’s voice with clever internal monologue

·  Includes a strategic variety of sentence structures

·  Employs elements of capitalization, punctuation, and spelling for dramatic effect

Instructional Practices:

The teacher used the following practices:

·  Modeling Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart to illustrate that a writer can create a first person narrator who is not the writer

·  Presentation of mini-lessons on point of view, leads, dialogue, and transitions

·  Use of an organizer to help with initial planning

·  Reading to the class a sample first person story the teacher had written


Assignment Description:

Students were to write a fictional first person account. The goal of the assignment was for the students to realize that an author can create a first person narrator who is not necessarily the author.


Intended Audience:

Teacher and peers


Time:

Information not provided


Writing Process:

Information not provided


Materials:

Graphic organizer, models of first person narrative writing

Please note:

The samples may contain inaccuracies in wording and content or shortcomings in the use of standard English conventions.

Grade 7—Narrate

In this sample…

The writer creates a short, playful first person narrative that turns the routine event of feeding a pet into a humorous story about a foiled “great escape.” The writer adopts a distinct and separate persona and maintains it consistently. Skillful organization gives the reader a clear picture of the abortive adventure and of the personality of Bunny Foo Foo. Internal monologue as well as precise word choice and imaginative capitalization, punctuation, and spelling make the story particularly engaging and entertaining.

The Great Escape

From the Amazing Adventures of

Bunny Foo Foo

C A1>I wake up<C and I am J stretched out<J underneath my fiddle sticks house, facing out toward the bars of my cage. <A1 I wonder when they will be out to bring me a carrot. I stretch and hop outside into my rabbit run around.

F>Oh! Yay! F HI think I hear them coming with my carrot. <H B2>Here they come! Right a-b-o-u-t NOW! Anytime now … wait for it … wait for it … okay, so never mind, maybe it wasn’t them. Errrrr! B2 What’s taking them so long? It’s the same routine every day. A2>I’m starting to get sick of this same old, same old.A2 G> I want to have an adventure! G I think I’ll escape and run out of the garage when they have my door open. A2>Meanwhile, I’ll have my breakfast of dry oatmeal and Bunny 16, with some hay on the side. A2

CA while later: <C They have finally come. H> D1I am now Jfiercely nibbling J at the carrot the little girl gave me. <H Now she is JcooingJ and patting my head.D1 The lady has opened the garage door now to dump the extra hay that fell onto my bottom tray. F>Ah! A3>Here is my chance to make the great escape! A3 F The little girl is inside filling my water so no one will notice.

D2 B4 B3Quick as a rabbit, B3 well … I am a rabbit; D2 A3I hop out of the door of my cage and run for the yard. A3 Yes! I’ve made it; I’m free to hop anywhere I want. Mmm! Smell the fresh air, look at the grass! F>Oh! This is so exciting! <B4 F

B3 “Foo Foo! , B3 F>What are you doing, you silly bunny? F The outdoors is no place for you.

B3Oh no! , B3 J D1 A3>Swoop J , and Cin an instant <C I am in the little girl’s arms D1 being carried back to the garage.A3

B1> “You know there are coyotes, foxes, hawks, and all sorts of things that might try to eat you outside. B1 There is no one who will come to pet you, bring a carrot, or clean your litter box.”

B1>Oh well! ESo much for the great escape! CMaybe next time, <C though I don’t really like the idea of hawks and stuff. B1 <E H> A3Maybe I do have a better life in the garage A3 where people bring me food, clean me, and pat me. <H G EI wonder what I’ll do next. <E <G

END OF WRITING SAMPLE